To an Outstanding 2007...

With Christmas behind me and the new year looking ahead, it is once again time to reflect on the past year and make resolutions and goals for the upcoming one.

Looking back, I couldn't help but notice that the weather around the world has been going a little hay-wire recently... rain storms in Southeast Asia causing floods, lack of rain in Australia causing a drought that is said to be the start of only a 100-year one, snow in the Middle East and no snow in North America. What is the world coming to? What are we in for? And where do we go from here?

Away from such ecological factors beyond my control (most of it anyway...) what I could control was how I wanted to live my life and achieve in 2007. The answer was crystal clear - I'm taking up Business Mandarin clasess. It's time to step up and do what's needed.

So as you seek out to plan what's yours for 2007, my wishes are with you for an outstanding and fruitful year ahead.

Happy New Year!

It is more blessed to give than to receive

As Christmas nears, shopping malls get crowded with frantic shoppers which increase in intensity as the eve of this big day approaches. Santa’s (in our context, parents, spouses, friends) making his list and checking it twice… children too are making lists of presents that they hope to receive…

Perhaps a time to slow down and also remember the life of St. Nicholas and to remind the children, "It is more blessed to give than to receive."

Jolly Santa Claus, A.K.A Saint Nicholas was a fourth century bishop of the city of Myra which is the modern-day Turkey. Nicholas obeyed Jesus' words to "sell what you own and give the money to the poor." He donated his entire inheritance to help the needy, the sick, and the suffering. The church recognized his total dedication to God and declared him Bishop of Myra while he was still a young man. Nicholas was known across the region for his generosity to people in need and for his love of children.

Western societies celebrates Saint Nicholas day on December 6. Our current images of Santa Claus have little in common with this devout bishop! We have much to learn from the life of Saint Nicholas.

Encourage the children to approach the Christmas season by focusing on what they can give, not on what they can receive. Besides material gifts, there is also gift of time, talents, and caring for others.

"It is more blessed to give than to receive" — Acts 20:35, NRSV

Babes in Sari

On a recent work trip to Chandigarh in India, my colleague & I decided to wear saris to one of the hosted evening receptions believeing it to be only one of the few occassions that we would be able to do so.

We expected it to be a fun experience but what was totally unexpected was the reception we received from the locals! If anyone didn't know better, they'd have thought local Bollywood celebrities were in the house!

Not only were we different being two Chinese women from the cosmopolitan city of Singapore dressed in one of the traditional Indian dress for ladies, we were also continually praised and thanked for embracing the local culture.

Food for thought:
In this age of widespread globalisation, many things have been taken for granted. From the simple action of wearing a country's national costume, the reaction of admiration and gratefulness was indeed surprising to me. It humbled and showed me how appreciative a people can be when their culture and habits are embraced as their very own country speeds towards globalisation and seemingly embrace Western values.

So where do we stand in today's world? Who are we? And what are we becoming?

A different kind of blog

Last night, on Singapore's Channel News Asia, there was a report on food blogs. 4 bloggers reviewed their true identity and commented on the popularity of their blogs. It came to me as quite a surprise. Coming onto the big screen and revealing one’s identify to discuss about food blogs; isn’t that the complete opposite of what blogs are supposed to be?

In Wikipedia’s words, a blog is a website where entries are made in journal style and displayed in a reverse chronological order.

Are blogs getting more commercialised? Are google and yahoo-inspired ad models spinning off on blogs too and via other channels such as TV? Perhaps, the future world of blogs is a wolf in a sheep’s clothing; hiding online advertising and paid search under its thick fur…Who knows?